Northampton Saints have been handed a difficult group for next season’s Heineken Cup after being drawn alongside Leinster, Ospreys and old sparring partners Castres Olympique in Pool One.
Jim Mallinder’s men lost to three-time tournament winners Leinster in the 2011 final, while this is the fourth season in a row the Saints have been drawn in the same pool as Castres.
Since reaching the final in Cardiff two years ago, Northampton have failed to progress beyond the pool stages of the Heineken Cup and have been handed one of the hardest possible draws in Pool One.
Along with being multiple winners of Europe’s premier club rugby competition, Leinster recently clinched their third RaboDirect Pro 12 title with victory over Ulster in the final.
Castres were also crowned French Top 14 champions for the first time in 20 years after beating this year’s Heineken Cup winners Toulon 19-14 at the Stade de France last Saturday.
The clash Ospreys also means new Saints signing Kahn Fotua’ali will come up against his old club sooner than he may have expected, with the scrum half leaving the Welsh region for Franklin’s Gardens this summer.
Full fixture details will be confirmed in due course.
Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/22765007
Rugby Union: Tough draw for Northampton Saints in Heineken Cup
No comments:
Post a Comment